Douar

“ Our camp was close to the wretched village of Misra ben Kara, a large collection of mere hovels put together with mud and dried branches, and enclosed, as the douar generally is, within a sort of rampart formed of the dried stems and branches of the Zizyphus Lotus, piled up to a height of eight or ten feet, through which a single opening gives admission to the inhabitants and their domestic animals. ”

“ At last the moon rose and in the open space in the center of the douar, I saw some tapers placed in parallel lines forming a sort of avenue of light. On either side the women scooped out little holes in the sand, and executed a few dancing steps. The men squatted alongside of the rows of tapers, but the women stood in the background, looking like dark phantoms. ”

“ Twenty or thirty conical huts, made of branches and grass and anything which keeps out the sun, black camel's hair or a worn-out garment; the whole surrounded by a great hedge, or zareba, of the thorny lotus, not growing, but piled up, one hole left in the fence for exit, and closed at night by simply piling extra thorns in the space; a company of howling dogs,—such is an Arab douar, and it is probably unequalled for filth, though when the parasites become too many, even the thick-skinned Bedouin moves out, and a new douar is put up somewhere else. ”

“ We had intended spending the night with the Sheikh Abdulla bin Nasr, chief of the Oulad Nasr, whose douar is on the left or western bank of the Oued Malah (salt river) , but when we reached the right bank we found it so swollen that we were reluctantly compelled to abandon the attempt to cross it that night. Fortunately there was a douar belonging to Sheikh bou Real (the father of a piastre) at no great distance, and, seeing our trouble, he offered us the most ungrudging hospitality. The Arabs of this country do not as a rule inhabit tents ”

“ In the centre of each douar, there is a tent set apart as a mosque, with a fire burning before it, and there we were without difficulty admitted while our tent was getting ready. It is also used as a school as—late and early—we could testify. If Arabs are not taught foreign tongues, they do learn to use their own. Each douar besides its sheik has its Cadi and priest or schoolmaster. [Pg 453] The tents of the persons of distinction are black, the others brown ”

“ A stranger presenting himself before a douar, stands some little way off, and pronounces these words: Dif rebi—"a guest sent by Allah." The effect is magical. Whatever may be his condition of life, they throw themselves on him, tear him from one another, and hold his stirrup while he alights. The servants lead away his horse, about whom, if he be a man of good breeding, he will not give himself any further trouble. He himself is almost dragged into a tent, and whatever is ready to hand is set before him, until a banquet can be prepared. Nor is less attention shown to a traveller on foot. ”

“ These notions are natural enough, for they seem possessed of man’s reason with brute’s force. We had commonly an alarm at day-break of boars close to the douar, and though instantly pursued by dogs and horsemen, they managed to escape by speed, dodging, and short turns. They move through the bushes with a surprising facility of avoiding noise, squeezing by strength and with their thick hides through places that appeared utterly impassable. ”

“ He is great and noisy. I can hear him, or see him, or smell him in time to escape; but any moment I may place a hand or foot on the little bug, and never know that he is there until I feel his deadly sting. No, I do not fear the jungle. I love it. I should rather die than leave it forever; but your douar is close beside the jungle. You have been good to me. I will do as you wish, and remain here for a while to wait the coming of my Korak.”
“Good!” said the man, and he led the way down toward the flower-covered bungalow behind which lay the barns and out-houses of a well-ordered African farm. ”

“ On leaving the douar the robbers travel in broad daylight, but, as they approach the tribe they propose to rob, they proceed only at night, and conceal themselves, when two or three leagues from the tents, in the bed of a river, or among the herbage, or in the mountains. As soon as the darkness has become dense, they issue from their hiding-place and try the different douars one after the other, stopping at last at that which seems the least securely guarded, and where the dogs are the least wakeful. ”

“ He then rejoins the layahh, and the two quickly come up with the hammaze, when all three return to their expectant companions. A second robbery is committed, if the douar, buried in sleep, has had no suspicion of what was going on; otherwise they prepare for flight. One of them, placing his folded haïk on the back of the horse so as to use it for stirrups, starts forward at a gallop, after naming a rendez-vous for the morrow or the day after. The others, to escape from the pursuit which is sure to be instituted in the morning, hide themselves during the whole of the first night. ”

“ This threat put a sudden end to Rokoff's brutality, for he had no craving to see Tarzan loosed from his bonds while he was within reach of those powerful hands.
"Very well," he replied to the Arab; "I shall kill him presently."
"Not within the precincts of my DOUAR," returned the sheik. "When he leaves here he leaves alive. What you do with him in the desert is none of my concern, but I shall not have the blood of a Frenchman on the hands of my tribe on account of another man's quarrel—they would send soldiers here and kill many of my people, and burn our tents and drive away our flocks." ”

“ The most celebrated zaouïa in which tame lions are kept is that of Sidi-Mohammed-ben-Aouda, a tribe of the Flittas in the province of Oran.
With this special exception the Arabs—and it is a characteristic trait worthy of note—never rear any but inoffensive animals. There is not a tent without a gazelle, an antelope, a jackal, an ostrich, or a falcon; but in no douar is a savage beast ever to be seen, such as a hyæna, a panther, or a lion. Some tribes take pleasure in rearing a young wild boar, under the idea that it amuses the horses, which like its smell. ”

“ Should the douar be on its guard, the attacking party at once retires. They who venture upon such enterprises are usually well mounted, and speedily escape from a pursuit that is rendered almost impossible by the obscurity which effaces all traces and inspires dread of ambush. For a razzia of this sort, they do not hesitate to go thirty or forty leagues. ”

“ It is the young men of the douar [41] wearily regaining the encampment, mounted on horses with hollow flanks, worn out, and shoe-less. They have been out the whole day hunting, without eating or drinking. Camels loaded with gazelles, hares, bustards, etc., follow behind, but this prize, tempting though it be, will not save them from the storm that awaits them: "Young men," their mothers will exclaim with an angry voice, "it is disgraceful thus to ruin our horses for the sake of a little useless game. ”

“ We are betrayed!" The clamour, the jumping about, the strange aspect of the individual, and the noise of the saddle which he keeps on shaking, strike terror into the animals. Horses, sheep, and camels rush pell-mell out of the douar, and are caught by the concealed horsemen. The others rush out of their tents, snatch up their guns, and spring into the saddle; but flocks and plunderers are already far away, fleeing at full speed, and protected by the night. ”

“ Passing early one morning by a douar, in the territory of Howara, 172 I was invited to join a party to hunt the wild boar. The plains of Howara, between the city of Terodant and Santa Cruz, abound with boars: we started, in a few hours, seven of these animals, two of which were taken and killed. The dogs best calculated for this sport are what they call sereet telt, or the third race of greyhounds, which is a very strong dog. ”

“ The Jews, who wear a distinguishing costume, and a black cap; they are all engaged in trade, and form one-seventh of the population of the walled habitations. They are held in great contempt, and are treated very rudely by the Arabs, and therefore are seldom met with among the encampments of that people.
A douar is a village of tents; these tents are made of goats' and camels' hair; they are made by the females, are of a close texture, extremely warm, and impervious to the rain: thus they [329] are cool in the summer, and warm in the rainy season. ”

“ They had numerous flocks of sheep and goats, and two watering places, near one of which their tents were pitched, but the other lay nearly five miles off.
Vled, or Woled D'leim, is the douar of a tribe of Arabs inhabiting the eastern parts of the desert, from the latitude of about twenty degrees north to the tropic. They are a tribe of great extent and power, inhabiting detached fertile spots of land, where they find water and pasturage for their flocks, but are very ignorant of the commonest principles of agriculture. ”

“ And because there was a European girl present, the women ate with the men, which was not usual.
The second sheep was for the humbler folk of the zmala, and they roasted it whole in an open space, over a fire of small, dry wood, and of dead palm branches brought on donkey back twenty miles across the desert, from the nearest oasis town, also under dominion of the Agha. He had a house and garden there; but he liked best to be in his douar, with only his [Pg 257] tent roof between him and the sky. ”

“ There is interest, although no very great novelty, in Captain Kennedy’s narrative of his wanderings amongst the dasheras and douars of the Bedouins. The douars are Arab camps, the dasheras villages, or rather collections of huts, built of stone and mud, and roofed with branches of trees. The walls of these miserable habitations are low; the door does duty as sole window; for a fireplace a hole is made in the earthen door; the furniture consists of a few mats, a corn-mill, some pots, and a lamp. These are the dwellings of the agricultural tribes, who live near the mountains. ”

“ In all parts where the Lion is found, the natives have one or more ways of trying to get rid of him: sometimes meeting him in open fight, sometimes destroying him in a more underhand manner, by pitfalls, or the like.
[Pg 28]
Of all methods, that which is attended with the least danger is the ditch, or pitfall, of the Arabs of Algeria. This is a pit four or five yards broad, and ten deep, dug in the middle of the douar, or small encampment of from ten to twenty tents, in which the Arabs live during the winter. ”

“ If the natural disposition of the panther leads it to spare, or at least to avoid, man, and to choose for its prey animals wild or tame, such as sheep, cows, gazelles, and antelopes, that cannot defend themselves, it is equally instructed by instinct to modify its mode of attack upon animals whose habits or courage render them difficult or dangerous to assail—against such, it has usually recourse to surprise. It will not attack a horse in the centre of a douar. ”

“ There is really nothing incredible in the facts thus stated by the Arabs. The ascendancy of courage over animals is indisputable. The professional robbers who roam abroad at night, armed to the teeth, instead of shunning the lion, cry out to him if they meet with him: "I am not what thou seekest. I am a robber like thyself; pass on, or, if it please thee, let us rob in company." It is said that the lion sometimes follows them, and attempts an assault on the douar towards which they are bending their steps. ”

“ As soon as the Arabs hear his roars, and know that they have their enemy a prisoner, they prepare a great feast, summon all the inhabitants of the neighbouring douars, and, proceeding to the pit’s mouth, every one hurls stones at the poor animal, calling him at the same time by all the opprobrious names in the Arabic vocabulary, and, finally, fire upon him until he is dead. ”

“ In the wanderings of the tribe they follow the camels. There is no instance of any bird brought up in this way taking to flight. They are full of spirits, and frolic with the horsemen, dogs, etc., etc. Does a hare happen to start up, away go the men in full chace, and the ostrich, becoming excited, rushes after them and takes part in the hunt. If it meets in the douar a child with something in its hand of an eatable nature, it lays him gently on the ground, and endeavours to take it from him. The ostrich is a great thief ”

“ Armand to go and explore the fine lairs situated on the northern declivity of Mount Aures, in the environs of Klenchela, where I had left my animal. Instead of a furlough, I received a mission for that country, and accordingly had during two months to shut my ears against the daily reports that were brought to me by the Arabs of the misdeeds of the solitary. In the beginning of September, when my mission was terminated, I proceeded to pitch my tent in the midst of the district haunted by the lion, and set about my investigations round about the douars to which he paid the most frequent visits. ”

“ As the seeds of the doura begin to ripen, it must be constantly watched by the slaves, who are perched on trees, or on raised platforms, with dried gourds, which they shake to make a noise, at the same time shouting and hallooing to frighten away the flocks of small birds which come to devour the grain, and which at this season fly in myriads, making a whirring noise with their wings when they rise. The doura is very subject to blight, caused by a kind of winged insect, of a black colour, something like the bugs on a camel ”

“ This tribe also has no regular practice of dowry, which is quite formal: perhaps either some beans, a hoe, two goats, pots, or 10 calabashes. If a wife leaves her husband he seeks out a discontented couple and pairs off with the lady.
The Burrum population honour a rigid dowry scheme, which consists of payment of a horse and five goats. Marriage is not recognised until the dowry has been paid. If a couple elect to go in double domestic harness without that preliminary, all children born to them can be claimed by the woman’s father. ”